Spare Cleat

ABSTRACT

A piece of footwear is equipped with one or more spare cleat fasteners adapted to receive one or more spare cleats on a upper of the footwear and a plurality of cleat fasteners adapted to receive a plurality of cleats on a sole of the footwear. In one implementation, the spare cleat fasteners are apertures adapted to receive the spare cleats. When a user of the footwear discovers that one or more cleats on the sole of the footwear are worn, broken, or missing, the user may replace the worn, broken, or missing cleats with spare cleats located in the spare cleat fasteners on the upper of the footwear.

BACKGROUND

Footwear, including athletic shoes, work boots, dress shoes, ski boots,overshoes, and all manner of footwear, can provide poor traction on manysurfaces, including slippery, icy, and wet surfaces. The difficulties ofmoving across a slippery surface, including walking running, andjogging, can result in inconvenience and/or injury. Footwear thatprovides good traction in a variety weather conditions and on a varietyof surfaces that minimizes the inconvenience of changing or removing thefootwear is desirable.

One solution to the aforementioned difficulties is footwear designed tobe worn over other footwear (i.e., an overshoe). The overshoe easilyslips on and off a piece of footwear and provides excellent grip andtraction on slippery surfaces. Some existing footwear products areequipped with cleats that protrude from a bottom of the overshoe. Theweight of a wearer or user of the footwear pushes the cleats into asurface to grip the surface. However, the protruding nature of thecleats renders them vulnerable to wear or damage caused by walking onhard surfaces. Further, in some implementations, the cleats areremovable for safety and replacement. However, a removable cleat may beinadvertently removed and lost if it becomes wedged into a crevice in arigid surface as the user walks on the rigid surface.

SUMMARY

Implementations described herein address the foregoing problems byproviding footwear equipped with one or more spare cleat fastenersadapted to receive spare cleats on an upper of the footwear and aplurality of cleat fasteners adapted to receive a plurality of cleats ona sole of the footwear. In one implementation, the footwear is a shoe.In other implementations, the footwear is an overshoe (i.e., a shoeadapted to fit over another shoe). When a wearer or user of the footweardiscovers that one or more cleats on a bottom portion of the footwearare worn, broken, or missing, the user may replace the worn, broken, ormissing cleats with the spare cleats located in the spare cleatfasteners in the upper of the footwear.

Other implementations are also described and recited herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear attached to a piece of primary footwear that is shown inphantom.

FIG. 2 illustrates a right side elevation view of an example piece ofspare cleat footwear.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom plan view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear.

FIG. 5 illustrates a longitudinal section of a right side elevation viewof an example forward portion of a piece of spare cleat footwear.

FIG. 6 illustrates a longitudinal section of a right side elevation viewof an example forward portion of a piece of spare cleat footwear with aspare cleat removed from a spare cleat fastener.

FIG. 7 illustrates example operations for installing a spare cleat on apiece of spare cleat footwear.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear 110 (e.g., an overshoe) attached to a piece of primary footwear105 (e.g., a boot) that is shown in phantom. The footwear 110 isconfigured to encompass the example primary footwear 105. The primaryfootwear 105 may be any manner of footwear, including shoes, boots,skiboots, and athletic shoes that encompasses a user's foot. The primaryfootwear 105 has a toe portion 107, a heel portion 108, and a bottomportion 109. The toe portion 107 accommodates the user's toes and a ballof the user's foot. The heel portion 108 accommodates the user's heeland the bottom portion 109 contacts the ground when the footwear 110 isnot being used. In an alternative implementation, the footwear 110 ismerely attached to a user's foot (there is no primary footwear 105). Assuch, the footwear 110 may be embodied by a piece of primary footwear(e.g., a shoe, a boot, etc.) or an overshoe.

The footwear 110 has a front portion 150, a back portion 140, and a sole120. The front portion 150 secures the toe portion 107 of the footwear105 and the back portion 140 secures the heel portion 108 of the primaryfootwear 105 in a form-fitting manner. Collectively, the front portion150 and the back portion 140 comprise an upper 121 of the footwear 110.As such, the upper 121 attached to the sole 120 is collectively thefootwear 110. The sole 120 joins the front portion 150 and the backportion 140 together. The front portion 150 is generally stretchable bya wearer or user of the footwear 105 because it is made of an elasticmaterial. The front portion 150 includes stretch zones 157 that areelastically deformable by the user. The front portion 150 may have threeopenings that define the stretch zones 157. Two of the three openingshave a similar size and are located on either side of the front portion150. The third opening may be smaller and is located generally in thecenter-front of the front portion 150.

The back portion 140 is also generally stretchable by a user of theprimary footwear 105 because it is also made of an elastic material,although other non-elastic materials may be used. Further, the backportion 140 may include a stretchable band as shown in FIG. 1 or besimilarly equipped with stretch zones that are elastically deformable bythe user. The back portion 140 may have two similarly sized openings oneither side of the back portion 140 that define the stretch zones. Theback portion 140 may be readily stretched when the user puts thefootwear 110 onto the footwear 105 and not readily stretched (or lessreadily stretched) when the footwear 110 encompasses the footwear 105.Further, the back portion 140 may be equipped with one or more grippingtabs 102 that extend from the back portion 140 and are used by a user topull and stretch the footwear 110 onto the primary footwear 105.

The sole 120 has a forward portion 126, a rearward portion 128, acentral opening 134, and a top 122. The forward portion is generallydisposed under the toe portion 107 of the primary footwear 105 and iscontinuous with the rearward portion 128, which is generally disposedunder the heel portion 108 of the primary footwear 105. The forwardportion 126 and rearward portion 128 together define the central opening134. The top 122 of the sole 120 generally contacts the bottom portion109 of the primary footwear 105.

The sole 120 also contains cleats 125 attached to cleat fasteners in thesole 120 that project downward from the sole 120. Still further, thefront portion 150 of the footwear 110 contains a spare cleat 125attached to a cleat fastener in the front portion 150. The spare cleat125 is oriented not to contact with the ground during normal use of thefootwear 110. The spare cleat instead serves to replace cleats 125 inthe sole 120 if the cleats 125 in the sole 120 become damaged ormissing. The cleats 125 and respective cleat fasteners are discussedwith more detail with respect to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6.

FIG. 2 illustrates a right side elevation view of an example piece ofspare cleat footwear 210. Cleats 225 project downward from a treadsurface 224. The cleats 225 may be carbide, stainless steel, plastic, orother suitable materials. Further, the cleats 225 may be configured asspikes. The cleats 225 may additionally be conventional golf cleats asused in conjunction with golf shoes. Such cleats 225 are especiallyuseful where the footwear 210 is intended for use in areas of grass anddirt.

A front portion 250 of the footwear 210 contains a spare cleat 125attached to a cleat fastener in the front portion 250. The spare cleat225 is oriented not to contact the ground during normal use of thefootwear 210. The spare cleat 225 instead serves to replace the cleats225 if the cleats 225 become damaged or missing during use of thefootwear 210. The cleats 225 and respective cleat fasteners arediscussed with more detail with respect to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear 310. A front portion 350 of the footwear 310 secures a toeportion of a piece of footwear and has a top surface 304 with one ormore spare cleat fasteners adapted to receive one or more spare cleats325. The spare cleat fasteners may include apertures in the top surface304, pockets on the top surface 304, bands on the top surface 304,hook-and-loop fasteners, or any other device on the top surface 304 thatmay be used to removably secure the spare cleats 325. Aperture-typespare cleat fasteners may be elastic or non-elastic. Elasticaperture-type spare cleat fasteners may be elastically deformed to fitaround and secure the spare cleats 325. Non-elastic aperture-type sparecleat fasteners may be equipped with threads for screwing the sparecleats 325 into the apertures. In another non-elastic aperture-typespare cleat fastener implementation, one part of a spare cleat 325 fitson one side of the non-elastic aperture-type spare cleat fastener and asecond part of the spare cleat 325 fits on an opposite side of thenon-elastic aperture-type spare cleat fastener and the two parts of thespare cleat 325 secure together compressing against the non-elasticaperture-type spare cleat fastener.

The spare cleats 325 are selectively attached to the spare cleatfasteners by a user of the footwear 310 and the spare cleat fastenerssecure the spare cleats 325. The spare cleats 325 are likely to remainattached to the spare cleat fasteners until the user of the footwear 310elects to remove them because the spare cleats 325 do not come incontact with the ground while the footwear 310 is being used. In theimplementation of FIG. 3, one spare cleat 325 is positioned within oneaperture centrally located in the top surface 304 of the front portion350 of the footwear 310. Other numbers, types, and arrangements of sparecleat fasteners and spare cleats 325 in the top surface 304 arecontemplated herein.

In other implementations, the spare cleats 325 may be mounted in arear-facing surface 303 of a back portion 340 of the footwear 310 thatsecures a heel portion of a piece of footwear. In this implementation,spare cleats are also likely to remain in place in spare cleat fastenersuntil the user of the footwear 310 elects to remove them because thespare cleats do not come in contact with the ground while the footwear310 is being used. Spare cleats 325 may be attached to spare cleatfasteners anywhere on an upper 321 of the footwear 310. The upper 321includes the top surface 304 of the front portion 350, rear-facingsurface 303 of a back portion 340, and any other surface of the footwear310 that does not typically come in contact with the ground during useof the footwear 310.

Spare cleats 325 mounted in spare cleat fasteners in either the topsurface 304 of the front portion 350 and/or rear-facing surface 303 of aback portion 340 are mounted are oriented to project away from thefootwear that the footwear 310 encompasses. This reduces the potentialfor damage to the footwear caused by the spare cleats 325. However, inother implementations, the spare cleats 325 may project toward thefootwear or along a surface of the footwear. The cleats 325 andrespective cleat fasteners are discussed with more detail with respectto FIGS. 3, 5, and 6.

FIG. 3 also illustrates textured surfaces 386 on the inside of thefootwear 310 located primarily where a user's footwear meets thefootwear 310 (e.g., near toe and heel portions of the footwear). Thetextured surfaces 386 reduce or eliminate slipping between a bottomsurface of the user's footwear and the inside of the footwear 310attached to the footwear. The two textured surfaces 386 of FIG. 3 eachinclude an array of raised protrusions generally located in space aroundand between cleats of the footwear 310. However, other designs andorientations of the textured surfaces 386 are contemplated herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom plan view of an example piece of spare cleatfootwear 410. Cleats 425 extending out of a bottom of a sole 420 of thefootwear 410 may be arranged as shown in FIG. 4. For example, the cleats425 on a forward portion 426 of the sole 420 may be arranged as asix-cleat trapezoidal shape, with a first pair of cleats 425 generallydisposed underneath a user's toes, a second pair of cleats 425 generallydisposed underneath a ball of the user's foot, and a third pair ofcleats 425 generally disposed behind the ball of the user's foot. Cleats425 on a rearward portion 428 of the sole 420 are generally disposedunderneath the user's heel.

Tread surfaces 424 on the bottom face of the sole 420 can includegripping ridges. In the implementation shown in FIG. 4, the grippingridges are generally located in the space around and between the cleats425 on the forward portion 426 and rearward portion 428 of the sole 420.The gripping ridges are a series of protrusions from the bottom face ofthe sole 420 that extend across a width of the sole 420. The grippingridges primarily improve traction of the tread surface 424 in forwardand rearward directions by fitting between and engaging crevices, bumps,and loose material on the ground. Further, the gripping ridges shown inFIG. 4 also extend forward and rearward on the tread surface 424 in analternating fashion. The forward and rearward extension of the grippingridges improves side-to-side traction of the tread surface 424 byfitting between and engaging the crevices, bumps, and loose material onthe ground. In other implementations, there are no gripping ridges onthe bottom face of the sole 420.

The forward portion 426 and rearward portion 428 of the sole 420 definea central opening 434. The central opening 434 may be roughlytrapezoidal shaped with a rounded side adjacent the forward portion 426.The central opening 434 is configured to minimize space between the sole420 and a piece of footwear that would otherwise form a pocket that mayentrap ice or other unwanted debris. Other shapes of the central opening434 may be used to minimize space between the sole 420 and the footwear.

FIG. 5 illustrates a longitudinal section of a right side elevation viewof an example forward portion 526 of a piece of spare cleat footwear.Cleats 525 extending out of a bottom of a sole 520 and/or spare cleats525 extending out of an upper 521 of the footwear may be formed of amaterial that exhibits good grip and has good wear resistant qualitiesas discussed with respect to FIG. 2. In an implementation utilizingelastic apertures as cleat fasteners, each cleat 525 has a head 570 anda shank 572.

The head 570 has a circular outer margin and has a generally flat topmargin. The diameter of the head 570 is expanded to help prevent thecleat 525 from pushing upward through a user's footwear when used onhard surfaces and support the cleat 525 against the underside of theuser's footwear. The head 570 tapers to a reduced diameter neck 582 thatis substantially equal to an unstretched diameter of the elasticapertures formed in the bottom of the sole 520. The neck 582 expands toa rim 584, the rim 584 having a greater diameter than the neck 582 tohelp prevent the cleat 525 from pushing upward through the sole 520.

Each cleat 525 may be molded into a button of resilient material (e.g.,nylon). For example, the shank 572 is set into the button 578 when thebutton 578 is in a molten state. Upon setting of the button 578, theshank 572 is fixed in the button 578. In some implementations, sparecleats have the same or similar design as the cleats. In otherimplementations, the spare cleats utilize a different design than thecleats.

FIG. 6 illustrates a longitudinal section of a right side elevation viewof an example forward portion 626 of a piece of spare cleat footwearwith a spare cleat 625 removed from a spare cleat fastener 674. Thespare cleat 625 is adapted to fit into the spare cleat fastener 674,here an elastic aperture in the forward portion 626. The spare cleat 625is equipped with a head 670, a neck 682, a rim 684, and a shank 672. Thespare cleat 625 is coupled to the spare cleat fastener 674 by slightlystretching the elastic aperture (i.e., spare cleat fastener 674) adaptedto receive the spare cleat 625 by pushing the rim 684 or head 670 of thespare cleat 625 through the stretched aperture. The neck 682 of theinstalled spare cleat 625 is surrounded by the elastic aperture with therim 684 and head 670 on either side of the elastic aperture. Thediameter of the rim 684 and head 670 exceeds the diameter of theunstretched aperture, thus the spare cleat 625 is held in place in thespare cleat fastener 674. The shank 672 extends out of the rim 684 andis adapted to engage the ground when installed in a cleat fastener. Whenthe spare cleat 625 is desired to replace a lost, worn, or missingcleat, the spare cleat 625 may be popped out of the spare cleat fastener674 and installed in a desired cleat fastener. In some implementations,spare cleat fasteners have the same or similar design as the cleatfasteners. In other implementations, the spare cleat fasteners utilize adifferent design than the cleat fasteners.

FIG. 7 illustrates example operations 700 for installing a spare cleaton a piece of spare cleat footwear. As a user walks on ground with thefootwear attached to his/her foot or footwear, cleats on a bottomsurface of a sole of the footwear can become damaged or dislodged fromcleat fasteners on the bottom surface. In an inspection operation 705, auser inspects the bottom surface for missing and/or damaged cleats. In afirst removing operation 710, if the user notices damaged cleats he/sheremoves them from their respective cleat fasteners.

In a second removing operation 715, the user removes one or more sparecleats from spare cleat fasteners located on an upper of the footwear.Often the user will remove the same number of spare cleats as the numberof missing and/or damaged cleats so that all the missing and/or damagedcleats may be replaced with spare cleats. In an installing operation720, the user installs the one or more spare cleats in the cleatfasteners with missing cleats and/or the cleat fasteners that previouslycontained damaged cleats. In a replacing operation 725, the userreplaces the removed spare cleats with new spare cleats in the sparecleat fasteners.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a completedescription of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended. Furthermore, structuralfeatures of the different embodiments may be combined in yet anotherembodiment without departing from the recited claims.

1. A piece of footwear comprising: a sole including a plurality of cleatfasteners, each cleat fastener being configured to secure a cleat; andan upper including one or more spare cleat fasteners, wherein the upperis attached to the sole.
 2. The piece of footwear of claim 1, whereinthe upper is configured to secure a foot within the piece of footwear.3. The piece of footwear of claim 1, wherein the upper includes a frontportion configured to secure toes within the piece of footwear.
 4. Thepiece of footwear of claim 1, wherein the upper includes a back portionconfigured to secure a heel within the piece of footwear.
 5. The pieceof footwear of claim 1, wherein the upper is configured to secure apiece of primary footwear within the piece of footwear and the piece ofprimary footwear is configured to encompass a foot.
 6. The piece offootwear of claim 1, wherein the cleat fasteners include apertures inthe upper.
 7. The piece of footwear of claim 1, further comprising: oneor more spare cleats configured to be selectively secured to the one ormore spare cleat fasteners.
 8. The piece of footwear of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of spare cleat fasteners are configured to store one ormore spare cleats in an orientation that does not to engage a groundsurface when the piece of footwear is in use.
 9. The piece of footwearof claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of cleats configured to beselectively secured to the plurality of cleat fasteners.
 10. The pieceof footwear of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cleat fasteners areconfigured to secure a plurality of cleats in an orientation thatengages a ground surface when the piece of footwear is in use.
 11. Thepiece of footwear of claim 1, wherein the sole has a tread surface withgripping ridges.
 12. The piece of footwear of claim 1, wherein the upperincludes an elastic material.
 13. The piece of footwear of claim 2,wherein the sole has a central opening that reduces space between thesole and the foot.
 14. The piece of footwear of claim 2, wherein theupper includes one or more gripping tabs configured to assist a user infitting the piece of footwear around the foot.
 15. The piece of footwearof claim 1, wherein the cleat fasteners and the spare cleat fastenersare of the same type.
 16. The piece of footwear of claim 1, wherein thecleat fasteners are of a different type than the spare cleat fasteners.17. A method comprising: removing a spare cleat from a spare cleatfastener on an upper of a piece of footwear; and installing the sparecleat in a cleat fastener on a sole of the piece of footwear.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising: removing a damaged cleat fromthe cleat fastener on the sole of the piece of footwear.
 19. The methodof claim 17, wherein the upper is attached to the sole and configured tosecure a foot within the piece of footwear.
 20. The method of claim 17,wherein one or both of the cleat fasteners and the spare cleat fastenersinclude apertures in the upper.